The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 84, July 1980 - April, 1981 Page: 200
502 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
right lands for him in Coles' Settlement; a contribution toward the
refurbishing of the fort at Velasco; and a speech to the New Orleans
Grays (a troop of volunteers just arrived in Texas), promising to join
them in the struggle for Texas's independence from Mexico.8
The last entry in Lamar's journal is dated October 8, 1835, at Bra-
zoria. Sometime in late November he made a brief trip home to
Georgia, and then returned to Texas in time to distinguish himself at
the battle of San Jacinto in April, 1835, and to rise from the rank of
private to commander-in-chief of the army in the span of four weeks.
Subsequently, Texans elected Lamar vice-president, and then presi-
dent, of the Republic. His major accomplishments in office were the
early recognition by major European powers of Texas as an indepen-
dent state, and the establishment of a foresighted plan for a system of
public education.
After one term as president, Lamar returned to private life at his
farm near Richmond, in Fort Bend County, but his peace was shattered
again, this time by the sudden death of his sixteen-year-old daughter
Rebecca Ann in Georgia. Once more, Lamar turned to travel for sol-
ace. In New Orleans and in the East, renewed friendships led him into
literary circles and inspired his return to writing. In Washington, he
effectively aided lobbying efforts for the annexation of Texas by the
United States. As war with Mexico broke out in 1848, Lamar again
took up arms; he commanded the Second Regiment of General Zachary
Taylor's army, which played a major part in the taking of Monterrey.10
In 1851 Lamar married Henrietta Maffitt, and their daughter Lor-
etto Evalina was born the following year. His last role in public life
was that of United States minister to Nicaragua and Costa Rica, in
1858 and 1859. Soon after his return to Texas, he died, of a heart at-
tack, at the age of sixty-one."
Why did Lamar write the journals of his travels to Texas? No
doubt the nineteenth-century custom of diary-keeping was partial mo-
8Lamar, Papers, II, 166-168. Although Lamar refers in this later testimony to his con-
tribution toward the construction of a fort at Velasco, the fort had, in fact, already been
built by the Mexicans. (See also note 117.)
OIbid., I, [ix]; Graham, Life and Poems, 38; Lamar, Papers, I, [xiii, xvii-xviis].
10Stanley Siegel, The Poet President of Texas: The Life of Mirabeau B. Lamar, Presi-
dent of the Republic of Texas (Austin, 1977), 130-131, 132, 134, 137; ;Graham, Life and
Poems, 67-69.
11Graham, Life and Poems, 79-8o; Lamar, Papers, I, [xxi].200
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 84, July 1980 - April, 1981, periodical, 1980/1981; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101225/m1/236/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.